


Love On A Cloud

by Vanessa_Cocotea



Category: Doctor Who (TV Movie)
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 21:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanessa_Cocotea/pseuds/Vanessa_Cocotea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight and Grace ride unipegs through a talking nebula and play among the stars...</p><p>The sequel to Most Magical Indeed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love On A Cloud

**Author's Note:**

> My latest one and the sequel to Most Magical Indeed. A nice, soppy, old-fashioned fantasy romance.
> 
> The Aisling Nebula was introduced in my story, Eight Parsecs From Gallifrey, from my Liebesrtaum Trilogy I did in 2006 and am currently re-vetting.

After a couple of hours, Grace stumbled into the console room, still on Amico Celeste cafe overload. The Doctor, who had been up for at least an hour, was standing by the bookshelves, admiring the souvenir badge he'd got from the butterfly ritual that morning. He'd cleared a space for it on one of the shelves and now had it on hologram mode, showing the fairy dust portrait the butterflies had made of him that morning. He turned to Grace, who yawned.

"Tea?" Noticing she was still a bit groggy, he added, "Or would you prefer coffee? I'm sure I can find some in the kitchen somewhere."

"Tea would be fine, Doctor." She replied. "Thank you. And I'm not THAT groggy!" She laughed, then continued, "I still can't believe I just spent the last twelve hours or so, watching butterflies literally turn into fairies and vice versa! And your two little friends from the Fairy Meadow and their little stunt..." She laughed again. "I NEVER saw THAT coming!"

"I must admit, neither did I!" The Doctor chuckled. "By the way, Grace, I was wondering if you'd care to put your badge up here beside mine? It would be quite nice to have them together."

"Yes, of course. Good idea! I'll get it while you make tea." She left for her room and the Doctor headed for the kitchen.

********

After admiring their badges for a few moments, Grace and the Doctor sat down to tea and chocolate cake in the console room. They continued their reminiscences of the past several hours.

"I doubt I could EVER put words to that, Doctor! I can easily see why the Liebemorians never tire of it. That has got to be the most extraordinary thing I could ever see!" Grace looked thoughtful, then said, "The closest I can come to describing it, would be that it makes Shakespeare's line from the Tempest - you know, "Such stuff as dreams are made on" - look like the biggest understatement since the Big Bang!" She sighed. "I can't believe there are very many things out there as extraordinary!"

"Well!" The Doctor grinned. "On the one hand, I agree. That is an excellent description of the morning and evening rituals at the Amico Celeste cafe! On the other hand, there are quite a number of miraculous wonders out there in the universe, Grace! Some of them far more extraordinary than what we just saw! How about I tell you about the Aisling Nebula? Then maybe we can take another little trip, eh?" He smiled.

Grace's interest was definitely piqued. "The Aisling Nebula? What's different about it?"

"Well, for starters, it's a place that defies all known laws of nature - just like bumblebees do. When we get there, we won't need any protective clothing of any kind..."

"What????" Grace asked, totally disbelieving.

"Yes, the gas cloud is warm, but the rest of the phenomenon is like nothing I've ever seen. It's called a nebula, because that was the closest term the Time Lady, Aisling - who discovered it, could get to describing the area. The nebula was then named after her. She even brought samples of the gas back to Gallifrey and found a way to grow the most beautiful roses in it! Give me a minute and I'll bring you one of them from the TARDIS garden." He took off, leaving Grace completely speechless and in a state of silent awe.

********

Grace could not believe the breathtaking bit of botany the Doctor handed her. It was the most perfectly shaped rose she had ever seen. But the real miracle was seeing the colours literally shifting right before her eyes! That DEFINITELY defied any description she could give it. But the absolute awe in her eyes still spoke volumes. She looked between the Doctor and the liquid rainbow coloured flower before her again and again, unable to speak.

"Extraordinary, isn't it?" The Doctor grinned at her. Grace just nodded. The Doctor just about robbed her of speech forever, when he continued, "And beautiful as they are, these roses are nothing to the nebula itself." Grace's eyes were like saucers. When the Doctor asked her if she'd care to go see the Aisling Nebula now, she just nodded. She was still having a hard time finding words for the rose, let alone the nebula. So when she finally COULD speak again and asked the Doctor if the wardrobe had any appropriate clothing, he burst out laughing.

"Amazing where the human mind goes!" He murmured, then said to Grace. "Well, even though we won't need any protective clothing as such, I'm sure the TARDIS can supply us with some aesthetically appropriate items. Let's go take a look, eh?" She nodded and they left for the TARDIS wardrobe.

********

The TARDIS had done it again. She seemed to have a thing for coordinating peoples' outfits. The Doctor emerged wearing a midnight blue velvet frock coat, his usual white linen wing-collared shirt, grey silk cravat, medium grey linen trousers with grey braces and a beautiful satin waistcoat in a shade of midnight blue a fraction lighter than his frock coat. It had an embroidered design that matched Grace's dress and resembled points of light that might be stars and a swirling grey mist effect design that might be clouds of gas in space. He wore black shoes and socks. Grace had on a 50s style satin princess dress in the same shade of midnight blue as the Doctor's frock coat, with a v-neck, sleeveless with slightly-extended shoulders and in the same print as the Doctor's waistcoat. She had a midnight blue satin cord belt tied just below her waist and wore grey satin ballet slippers with one inch heels. They looked amazing and very suitable for a visit to a nebula. They smiled at each other in appreciation. Then Grace waited impatiently while the Doctor set the coordinates...

The Doctor had timed their arrival for a bit later than the few seconds it would actually take to get there, so he could prepare Grace as best he could and tell her a bit about the Time Lady, Aisling. Grace listened silently as the Doctor told her about Aisling and how she'd been travelling about and had discovered the phenomenon that came to be known as the Aisling Nebula.

The gas cloud-like area was unlike anything ever discovered. For starters, due to the unusual and inexplicable qualities of the cloud, sound ACTUALLY carried! So speech was possible! The gas felt warm to humanoid species - similar to room temperature on Earth, but extremely cold, by ordinary nebula standards. For reasons yet to be discovered, it was found to be perfectly safe for humanoid species to walk on the surface of the dust/gas cloud and to spend unlimited amounts of time there. Also, any touch of the gas or any speech caused the gas to change colours - as if in response! Aisling had assumed the cloud was some form of sentient life - as it would also form shapes and change colours, seemingly as a form of communication - often in response to something that was said to it! Further surprises occurred when she brought samples of the gas back to Gallifrey and a bit had accidentally seeped over to a pot of roses she'd had on her desk. The colours of the roses had started changing and had started shifting in rainbow-like, wave-like patterns! The Time Lady had done further research and had found a way to grow roses in gas-imbued soil and had thus developed the variety that bore her name. But she refused to tell anyone how she'd done it! Both Grace and the Doctor laughed. He'd just told her he'd been able to bring some of the roses back to the TARDIS and, using the seeds, how he now had his own Aisling roses, when they landed and Grace got her first look at the Aisling Nebula on the overhead scanner...

********

Grace was certain she'd never speak again. She could NEVER put words to that view. EVER. The liquid rainbow of colours before her eyes was - well, "exquisitely perfect" was all she could come up with, and that was woefully inadequate. She was firmly convinced that even SHAKESPEARE couldn't manage to find the words for that glorious view. Even the Doctor, who'd been there several times before, still had a hard time describing it. The best HE could do was, "Redefines 'Perfect'!". He tried again with, "Beyond perfect!". Woefully inadequate. He smiled and asked Grace if she'd care to go out and say hello. She said that, yes, she would like to say hello and that they should probably get going as the nebula might be anxious to say hello as well! They laughed and went out to visit magic...

********

They walked out on to the "surface" of the cloud, the Doctor giving Grace instructions along the way. "Just walk normally, Grace...your feet may sink a little, but that's all right, you won't fall through." Grace took her first hesitant steps and, just as the Doctor had said, she sank a little. Even though she'd been prepared, she still clung to the Doctor for a moment before continuing. By the second or third step, she was a pro. "Well done, Grace!" The Doctor smiled.

"This is amaz..." Grace started to say, then stopped as she could swear she saw a couple of HORSES in the distance! She looked again and, sure enough, there appeared to be a pair of white horses - no, wait, not horses, but winged UNICORNS all ready to ride and waiting patiently for the Doctor and her! Grace gasped and jogged the Doctor's sleeve. "Good Heavens!" He exclaimed. This WAS different, even for him! It was clear things were VERY different on the Aisling Nebula to things on Earth! They smiled at each other and went over to the cloud animals. The extraordinary creatures were quite complete, in that they even appeared to have saddles and blankets! More astonishment followed as Grace and the Doctor noticed alien writing on the animals' blankets, writing that, as they looked at it, sorted itself into English, revealing what was apparently the unipegs' names! Grace's unipeg was as beautiful and charming as her name - Snowglow. The Doctor's magnificent and handsome steed had his own equally magnificent name as well - Silverbranch.

They were also quite amazed to find that, although the Doctor's and Grace's hands went right through the animals' necks when they tried to pat them, they had no trouble mounting the creatures and even riding them - Grace very elegantly riding side-saddle! The nebula obviously thought this was the best way for Grace and the Doctor to do a bit of exploring! The surface of the nebula passed through scores of colours - each more breathtaking than the last, each time a hoof touched the gas - just as it had done with every step the Doctor and Grace had taken. It was extraordinary, riding the beautiful unipegs. It was so real, and yet, so unreal, at the same time. Positively surreal, but nice.

The nebula sent them on an incredible journey through its realm. It manifested multi-coloured landscapes, exotic birds and other fauna. The nebula didn't forget the flora either. Unbelievable forests and flowers appeared, to delight and enchant the Doctor and Grace. And anytime they passed by or through something, its colours would change to different hues for each of them. But their rides had an even more amazing treat in store.

After galloping through an area that resembled a lovely forest river, the unipegs brought them out into a flat, relatively unadorned region of the nebula and then took off into the upper reaches of the gas/dust cloud - giving Grace and the Doctor - quite literally, an out of this world experience. The animals flew the Doctor and Grace through the clouds, which turned every colour of the rainbow as they moved through, taking their breath away over and over again. Their mounts even hovered in the "air" at times, so they could admire the occasional shooting star or nova or the birth of a star in a nearby real nebula. All through the multi-coloured gas and the safety of the Aisling Nebula phenomenon. After a while, the unipegs brought them down near the TARDIS. Grace and the Doctor were both sorry to have their rides end, but both they and the animals were ready for a rest and all four were quite hungry as well!

********

The Doctor and Grace popped into the TARDIS for the picnic hamper and returned shortly to see Snowglow and Silverbranch quietly and calmly munching away on cloud grass. They laughed. In this atmosphere, that made perfect sense. They spread out their blanket on a lovely area of yellow and navy gas and were soon enjoying a fine picnic of bread, cheese, wine, fruit and chocolates.

During their picnic, the Doctor and Grace talked with each other and with the nebula itself. They discovered that the changes of colour from the nebula and the formation of different objects definitely appeared to be the nebula's own language. And after a bit - and with the TARDIS's translation abilities, there was a fine conversation going on between the Aisling Nebula and the Doctor and Grace. They asked if the nebula would tell them its secrets and the nebula's gas turned yellow - its equivalent of a laugh, and then it turned black - its equivalent of "No!". It finished with a sort of grey blue, meaning, "Sorry!" and then a white/royal blue, meaning, "Classified!", then the nebula "laughed" again. The Doctor and Grace laughed and the Doctor replied, "Fair enough!", quietly wondering to himself if the nebula had seen a certain robot recently.

Not that much later, they were joined by Snowglow and Silverbranch. Having finished their meal, the two unipegs came over to sit near the Doctor and Grace. The animals seemed quite content to just take in the sights and rest, though Grace and the Doctor had no doubt that if the animals chose to speak to them, there'd be no difficulty in understanding each other! The Doctor and Grace decided to join the two unipegs in their rest and, having finished their own meal, laid back on the blanket to admire the stars, made even more beautiful when seen through the gas cloud.

********

After they'd had a little rest, the Doctor looked at Grace and grinned, "Grace, do you know what I'd like to do now?"

"Ah...what?" Grace looked a bit alarmed. When the Doctor wore a grin like that, all sorts of weird things were possible.

"I have an uncontrollable notion to do something ridiculously silly - like play "Hide and Seek". I'm sure the nebula could give us some terrific places to hide." He smiled up at the clouds. "Couldn't you?" The nebula responded with a nice sunny yellow. The Doctor smiled at Grace. "See? What do you say?"

Grace sighed, thinking that this ought to be a trip and a half. "Yeah, sure! Why not? Ought to be something else!"

"Splendid!" He got up and headed towards the TARDIS to lean against her and close his eyes."You hide first!"

Grace laughed and started to look round for a suitable place. Some distance away, the clouds took on a green hue and Grace could swear they twinkled. She stood looking towards them for a moment, thinking they were very pretty and still wondering how she was going to hide, when a curtained canopy bed formed on the same spot as the green twinkles and orange arrows pointed a path towards the "bed". The message was clear. The nebula had a great place for Grace to hide. Grace walked over and, giggling, laid down on the bed. It immediately sank down till it was level with the rest of the the cloud floor. The nebula "covered" Grace with multi-coloured clouds and placed many more all about the area. In the meantime, the Doctor had finished counting and had started to search. All he could see in any direction were many patches of colour all over the nebula. He started to walk, keeping his eyes open.

He walked and walked and had just about run out of time, when he tripped over one of many small hillocks that had formed in places. The hillock giggled. The Doctor exclaimed, "Ah-hah! Found you!" Chuckling, he reached into the mound and pulled Grace out.

She came out, laughing. "Found me just in time, didn't you?"

"Yes, I was getting a bit worried. Good job hiding!" He looked up. "Both of you!" The nebula turned several colours in gratitude.

Grace replied. "Thank you! Now, it's my turn to find you!" She went to stand against the TARDIS to close her eyes and count. The Doctor strode off, wondering how HE was going to hide. Sure enough, the nebula had a good hiding place for him as well. The whole nebula turned many colours - like an elaborate fireworks display and formed many different shapes and obstacles - all in shifting colours. And in one of the shapes, the Doctor was concealed, completely hidden from view by all the shifting colours.

Grace finished counting and took off. All she could see were shapes and a vast array of colours - all shifting like mad. She had no idea how she'd find the Doctor in all this confusion, but she was going to try! She walked and walked, touching this gas shape and that. All that happened was that her hands went right through. She must have walked for several minutes and investigated dozens of obstacles, when suddenly, out of a vast twinkly gas Christmas tree shape, a hand grabbed at her and pulled her close, laughing. "AHH!" She screamed, then laughed. "Doctor!"

"Thought I'd better get you before YOU ran out of time!" He smiled. "Since we seem to be in the appropriate position...Dr Holloway, would you care to dance?"

"Doctor," She smiled. "I'd be delighted!" Then Grace paused and asked, "Ah, what do we do for music?"

The Doctor smiled back and replied, "I believe I could sing something suitable." They started to dance as the Doctor sang, "Fly me to the moon...Let me play among the stars... Let me see what Spring is like on Jupiter and Mars...In other words...."

It was pure enchantment as they waltzed all round the area of the Aisling Nebula near the TARDIS. The nebula helped out with some of the most magical colours seen thus far. Even the TARDIS joined in with an instrumental accompaniment. The Doctor and Grace enjoyed themselves so well, they opted for an encore, the nebula and the TARDIS happy to oblige them. Then as the song glided to its end, the Doctor dipped Grace in his arms and kissed her. "Magical" was an understatement. The Doctor brought Grace back to her feet and they just held each other for a few moments, not needing to speak.

********

It was time to go after that and even Snowglow and Silverbranch came over to say goodbye, before flying off through the clouds. Grace and the Doctor said their goodbyes to the Aisling Nebula and promised to return. The nebula sent them off with a wonderful display of colours as a thank you for visiting. But when the TARDIS slipped out of existence, the nebula turned a very sad dark grey. It missed them already.

********

In the console room, Grace and the Doctor settled down on the sofa with glasses of wine and reminisced about their visit to the Aisling Nebula.

Grace sighed contentedly. "You're right, Doctor. That was even better than the morning and evening rituals at the Amico Celeste cafe on Liebemore - though I still find it hard to believe THOSE could ever have been topped! But you did it!" She laughed.

The Doctor laughed as well. "Yes, when one experiences something extraordinary somewhere, it always seems impossible to top it, and yet, the universe always does. Though I've not seen anything yet, I know there are miracles out there that would make the Aisling Nebula pale by comparison. That's the main reason I enjoy exploring as much as I do. There's ALWAYS something new."

Grace nodded. "Yes, yes, I can relate to that. There is one curiosity, though, about the Aisling Nebula. With the place as fascinating as it is, I was surprised we were the only visitors there! I'm surprised it isn't some sort of "space tourist trap"!"

"That is curious. Might be that Gallifrey is the only planet to know about it. And with their rather variable habit of "non-intervention", they just might want to keep it to themselves. I only found out when, on one of my visits to Gallifrey, I bumped into Aisling by accident and we got to talking as one does. Curious, though. Still, if she found the nebula, I should think others have as well. Maybe we were just lucky to have it all to ourselves." grinned the Doctor.

"It may sound a little selfish, but I'm glad we did have it all to ourselves." Grace admitted.

"Then we're both a bit selfish, because I'm glad we did, too." The Doctor admitted as well.

Grace looked around and up at the Doctor. "Any favourite part, in particular, Doctor?"

"Hmm, it's hard to choose, but I'd have to say, flying through a nebula on a cloud unipeg definitely has to be on the short list! And the dancing wasn't bad, either!" He grinned.

"I'd have to agree. Those were the best bits." She smiled and laid her head back against the Doctor's chest. They were both quiet for a bit, just admiring the night sky on the overhead scanner and sipping wine. After a bit longer, they detected music gradually wafting into their evening. The TARDIS was playing their favourite song from their visit.

The Doctor chuckled. "She's such a romantic old girl. Care for a dance before bed, Grace?"

"That would be nice, thank you!" She smiled. They danced to "Fly Me To The Moon" a couple of times, with the night sky twinkling overhead. As their dancing wound down, they noticed what appeared to be stars drifting down. Startled, they looked up. There was the Aisling Nebula on the overhead scanner, waiting to wish them a goodnight! The nebula gave them a fine goodnight with a rainbow of colours chasing through the clouds and twinkly stars. In a moment of playfulness, they each waved goodnight and even blew the nebula a goodnight kiss. Then the night sky returned and, in another moment of playfulness, the Doctor picked Grace up in his arms and carried her off to bed.

The End


End file.
